Tuesdays in LA with Spike
by slayerextraordinaire
Summary: Buffy's life in LA before and after she became Slayer.


The world looks very ordinary on its surface. Cars on streets. Birds in sky. Houses on ground. The Weather Channel. People sitting on couches in living rooms. The world is not ordinary. There are Vampires crawling out of graves in graveyards. There are Demons portaling into abandoned buildings. There are Witches in Suburbia. There are Werewolves in High Schools. There is even the very rare Mummy. Sometimes they look like everyone else. Sometimes they are bad. Sometimes they have ugly faces look like they haven't seen moisturizer for decades. And sometimes their complexion is so pale you would swear they hadn't been out in the sun for centuries. Some people think it is just gang violence. Some call it criminal activity. And some know them as Demons and Vampires. This is about the One who is Chosen by the Powers that Be to protect humanity from these occult threats. She is called... the Slayer. The Mummy reached out with both of its gauze wrapped hands to attack India Cohen. The Wanderer of Water had found her she thought, and only she the Chosen One could stop it from terrorizing humanity. Dodging under his grasp the Slayer took her lighter from her jacket pocket and flicking it on while waving it over the dried cloth wrapping around its legs succeeded in lighting the Mummy on fire. India looked at it with a satisfied look for a split second- another Monster taken care of. Rolling out of the way of the Mummy she then back flipped away while readying a new stake for battle but she was certain that was just a precaution. No Mummy could survive being burnt into dust. The Mummy looked down at her with posture that looked like ironic deadly amusement and shuffled towards her as the flame consumed it.  
  
The Mummy with a ripple of mystical energy expanded its torso with a elemental groan and then contracted spilling out water from all over its body dousing the flames. Springing towards the Mummy like an uncoiling spring India thrust the stake deep inside its torso with a frisson of satisfaction. If this wouldn't kill it, nothing would. The stake slid in ward with a minimum of resistance and her hand emerged from the torso on the other side. Surprised India tried to pull back out but the chest of the Mummy solidified around her arm trapping it. As she attempted to break her arm free with her shoulder muscles jerking with suppressed fear and roaring adrenaline the Mummy latched both of its hands around her neck and squeezed with a superhuman strength. India began loosing her peripheral vision. There was a pounding roar in her ears that made her uncomfortable like she was hearing drums signaling her impending doom. Yeah right. The Slayer with her other hand reached for her bowie knife and pulling it free surgically removed with a single short swing the Mummy's head from its neck. It fell to the ground and sprayed dust everywhere and its gauze wrappings unraveled revealing an ugly pitted and creased face that looked up at her. And then it smiled at her. Beyond shock she struggled to break its grip but the hands around her neck squeezed even harder and the dark tunnel around her vision grew. She was loosing her ability to see as the arteries to her brain were being constricted. Summoning a surge of strength from somewhere deep inside her she punched the arms of the Mummy away from her and attacked it with a flurry of wild blows and barely trained kicks.  
  
Meanwhile Buffy Summers was enjoying her night as May Queen at the Hemery High School dance. She was slow dancing with the captain of the football team and was the envy of practically every girl on the dance floor who eyed her with dagger eyes. Buffy tried to loose herself in the moment and to submerge herself in shallow enjoyment of the occasion as if her best friend Cecilia hadn't just died. As if her parents weren't breaking up because of her. As if she wasn't simultaneously getting into trouble with the School while at the same time becoming a icon for the students because of her rebellious behavior. She concentrated on the envious eyes of her school friends on her on moving gently across the Gym floor and of his light touch on her hand and back. Her hair was too much out of place to enjoy the occasion but the soft glow lights along the wall and the music from the band as well as having the satisfaction of knowing she was at the top of her schools social hierarchy made this the best night of her life. A few miles away in the Summers household Buffy's parents Joyce and Hank were having another one of their discussions. Hank was shouting at Joyce for wasting their money on frivolous small business and art courses at the local college and Joyce was pleading with him that she thought it was a better investment then his magazines and bow hunting equipment. Hank just stonewalled her arguments and retreated to the den where he buried himself back into his work. Joyce stood there wondering what was happening to her marriage and feeling hurt that Hank couldn't understand her emotions and feeling more then a little ticked off... Hank wasn't the charming and suave man she thought he was when she first met and for a brief second she almost regretted him marrying at all. Instead of pushing down her feeling she allowed it to grow. Marrying him felt like the worst decision she had ever made... except for the moment a few days after new-years day 1981 when she had given birth to her daughter. That was what was important in her life...not putting up with this man who didn't understand how their marriagewas falling apart.  
  
The Mummy reeled backward from India Cohen and fell on to the ground silently. As her vision quickly returned a ripple of mystical energy surrounded the Mummy and a cloud of dust rose from its form and then fell back on to it and the ground around it covering it with a thick layer that made it look like it had always been there. Walking slowly backward India breathed a sigh of relief at its apparent death and then began coughing as the dust got into her lungs. She began backing out of the door of the tomb when suddenly a sharp pain jabbed into several places on her foot. Looking down she saw the grotesque head of the Mummy biting down on her shoe and penetrating to the flesh with rotten teeth. Grossed out she tried to kick it off and tried hacking its dense skull with her knife but the blade just skittered across its fossilized surface. Distracted she didn't notice the Mummy silently rising up behind her and walking towards her. Sofocused on her task she didn't notice the arm of the Mummy rising back to strike- and then striking faster then an Asp to grab hold of her heart.She twisted and with her last drop of life ripped a stake up through it separating it in two. Her wounds were mortal... death came swiftly and as she accepted it she was relieved that it was finally all over. Thelast thing she felt as she passed from this life was a sensation of lightness as though a burden had been removed from her. Like she could fly. At the same moment several thousand miles away Buffy Summers suddenly bent over as a weird sensation swept through her body as though a weight had been added to every square inch of her. Ewww she thought to herself... I really shouldn't have eaten all of those cookies.  
  
Hoping she could get to the women's restroom in time she rushed out the nearest exit and ran past the lockers through the corridors. Making herself sick with her misdiagnosis she worried frantically that she might not make it there in time. She was almost there and just as she was about to enter a strange man in a trench coat with a wide face and a thick mustache loomed in front of her and focusing on his words with majestic gravity "You have been Chosen to be the Slayer. And I am your Watcher" as Buffy hurled all over his immaculately tailored trench coat. The mess was... yucky. Adlibbing for the occasion Buffy said as she coolly brushed passed him. "I think you should choose to dry clean that coat instead." Merrick sighed as she disappeared. Bad enoughthat he was in LA when the call came in from the Council to watch this Potential but even worse was the recent surge in turnings in LA. How could the Powers that Be expect one so little to be able to perform the duties of the Slayer? He wished he was in England... but the Watching mustgo on. When she reemerged he was still standing there. Looking down at her he pronounced again with almost all of his attention given to pronunciation, "The Powers that Be have selected you to be the One to protect humanity." Buffy rolled her eyes as she tried to brush pass him on her way back to the dance. What a creep she thought. He grabbed her shoulder and wouldn't let go. Buffy swiftly broke the hold with a smooth karate like hand chop that surprised her. How did she do that?  
  
Confused and more then a little irritated she retreated backward and retorted, "Yeah, with great power comes great responsibility. Give me a break Stan Lee. I'm just another cheerleader. Go away." With a sudden quick draw like move he threw a steel stake at her head with the speed of a greyhound. Swiftly dodging she caught it in one hand. She looked at it and felt... uneasy and exhilarated at the same time. It was sort of like being Scully except this time she couldn't pretend that nothing weird was going on. This time it was too annoying to ignore. What was going on?" Regarding him with a cool gaze to cover her confusion she was taken aback when he said with a harsh levity "Just another Cheerleader?" This time when he started speaking she moved away as he was distracted by the own majesty of his voice. Running back to the safety of the Gym she thought to herself that you never know about those oddball types. Watching her go Merrick sighed as he went into the men's restroom to clean up. Merrick thought as he scrubbed the mess off- These Americans- always so rude and impetuous. Buffy danced and laughed with her friends all through the dance and into the night. As it wound down she ducked out a side door and escorted herself home. She ignored a group of seniors gathered around several cases of alcohol across the parking lot and instead stepped on to the street. The evening was cold and damp but the sky was clear and she felt an exhilarating sense of freedom and exploration as she walked through the almost deserted streets. Taking a short cut across a cemetery near a construction site she was more then three quarters of the way home when another creepy dude appeared almost as if he had grown out of the ground from behind a grave stone. "Garrr" he rumbled at her as he strode towards her with surprising speed. Uh oh she thought to herself, another weirdo. What was it this evening; did Candid Camera decide to see how far they could freak out a cheerleader from Hemery High in LA? Buffy thought as she felt deep down inside that he was really something evil and undead."  
  
He wasn't slowing down and Buffy quickly backpedaled. When he got too close Buffy swung her ankle up in a tight arc to do damage where it counted. He looked at her impassively and then his ugly face broke out in a toothy grin. It was a sharp toothy grin. "If you lie still I'm sure drinking your blood will only take a minute" he said to her with a confident look. Confidently looking back but slightly fearful she retorted, "Too bad- Ms. Minute Maid only has Orange Juice and Grapefruit." His stunned expression was worth it. As she retreated to the construction site he followed her quickly going back into his chase-and-growl mode. Moving fast and looking around her for something to make this weirdo back off she found something. Ah ha! A stake was buried in the ground. Pulling it up out of the ground she stood up with its pointy end outward. Just then the Vampire stupidly impaled itself on her stake and burst into dust. Shocked Buffy ran the rest of the way home. Unlocking the front door she wondered where her Mom was. She heard voices coming from the kitchen. Closing the softly door behind her she walked towards the kitchen and outside the kitchen in the hall she realized that her mom was arguing with her dad. Hank's voice was sarcastic and Joyce's tone was biting and shrill Realizing that all of her friends were partying and that her parents where fighting she realized that she had no one to talk to about her strange experiences this evening. She felt sad as she realized that even if she brought it up to any of them they would either disbelieve her or if they did they would probably think she was just as weird as what had happened to her and try to lock her up or something. Holding back the tears she ran up the stairs two at a time and entering her room she quickly changing from her skirt into the more tougher fabric of jeans and jumping into her bed she pulled the pillows over her head so she wouldn't have to hear them arguing. She really needed a shower but felt like lying in bed and not getting out until the sun rose. What could she do?  
  
Her picture of the Pony she always wanted and her poster of the skater Dorothy Hamill blankly stared at her picture of a bulldog on the opposing wall. Buffy felt miserable and lost. She tried to ignore the shouting from the kitchen. Buffy promised herself that she would not go out again tonight and wished she had someone to talk to. Suddenly the phone by her bedside rang. Staring at it suspiciously from under the covers Buffy wondered who it could be. Maybe a invite to a after dance party? Sliding over the bed towards it she picked up the phone and cradled it against her ear. "Hello?" she asked. Merrick replied "Hello is this the Chosen One?" "I'm sorry, she's not in. May I take a message?" There was a small pause. There were distant noises of confusion from the background. What was those sudden crunching noises- chairs falling over? "Buffy, your friends need your help." "I don't have my learners permit yet to drive my drunk friends home- you do it." Another pause. Another crash. Yelling and screams in the background. What was going on there?" "Buffy- your friends will be forced to make a involuntary contribution of their blood to feed the appetites of the undead unless you return here and do something about it." "Sorry, I don't listen to weirdos" Buffy retorted and slammed the talky piece of the phone back down on the other piece of the phone. The phone rang again. Buffy sighed and lay back on her bed counting the pointy bits of plaster on the ceiling. She was a normal girl. She was just another popular cheerleader. Why was the day she was trying to make the best day of her life keep on turning out so badly? She wondered. What'd she do to deserve this?"Finally getting frustrated she picked up the phone again. This time it wasn't Merrick.  
  
It was Ford one of her buds from High School on the phone. "Buffy- some gang-bangers are trashing up the place. I'm locked in the broom closet. Help". He sounded panicked. Buffy was concerned was about to ask him how he was doing but before she could speak Ford went on, "You've got to get down here Buffy, the 911 lines are jammed and we can't get through. Help!" And then the line went dead. Several blocks away Merrick pocketed his cell-phone and deadpanned to Ford as they sat locked inside the broom closet with chaotic confusion and noise outside. Merrick said "She should be here any minute now." Ford just looked at him then replied, "That's a nice trench coat for a substitute teacher." Merrick ignored the doubt in Fords voice and replied "Don't worry, she'll be down here" with a expression of impenetrable aplomb and dignity . The noise of dozens of Vampires rampaging through the Gym and chasing the students managed to penetrate broom closet where they were hiding. Yells, crashes, and weird guttural sounding noises including one that sounded like a trio of voices singing in succession 'Blood'. 'Weis'. 'Err'. Merrick sighed. It was just one damned thing after another. He felt too old for this sort of thing.  
  
Across the school two vampires one old and one young both with white hair walked across the floor like gods on earth. They kept on looking at the chaos around them as if looking for something. The older vampire Lothos was mournfully playing a violin and the younger one Spike was very agitated. Spike was about to say something but the older one cut him off without mercy. "Have patience my young fiend. We will find her and turn her." Spike replied, "If you don't stop torturing that bloody violin I will turn it into sawdust and shove it down your throat." The violin playing stopped.  
  
Buffy stared at the phone as the connection went dead then dialed 911 and listened to the automated voice telling her yes indeed the lines were all busy now and could you please hold and LAPD will get back to you as soon as possible. She rolled her eyes then got off of her bed and stood up on the floor. She didn't know why she was going to go, only that she felt a new sense of responsibility. Like totally. Only this time she would take the Jeep back to school and avoid the shortcut through the graveyard. With her parents arguing she figured they wouldn't notice her taking it. And besides, she deserved it. Anything to distract her from the guilty pain of her parents probably arguing about the trouble she had been getting into over the past few months. As she quietly slipped out of the house and into the Jeep she thought as she reached for the keys hidden in the sun visor, maybe I should go out at night more often. Flooring the accelerator a little too heavily the Jeep burned rubber as it pulled out of the driveway. Making a hard right to take her towards the school the left side of the Jeep lifted slightly and then collapsed back down as she continued down the road accelerating. This isn't too hard she thought as she bounced over curbs on her way to the school and flattened flowers beds in front yards. Suddenly the headlights of the Jeep illuminated another one of those pale guys running towards her down the road. Grimacing Buffy decided to floor it the pedal was already pressed to the metal. Like two medieval knights they charged to each other. When they were within a few feet of each other the Vampire leaped towards her as if it intended to come right through the windshield.  
  
Its mouth was wide open and she could almost count each and every yellow fang. Buffy ewwed and thought it needed a good flossing. While it was still flying through the air the Jeep continued accelerating and the wooden hood ornament caught it on the chest and it fell apart in mid-air into dust making it hard to see for a few moments. Buffy felt simultaneously exhilarated and scared. As she drove down the road to fast to the school she hoped she that the night would soon be over. She had a date tomorrow and accumulating scratches and bruises certainly wasn't going to help her. As she pulled into the school parking and parked near an old dirty sedan she looked across the parking lot at the Gym. Everything looked rather normal. A few students were running around. Wait. Some other students were chasing them. No- they were too badly dressed to be students at Hemery High. Getting out of the car she strode towards the entrance to the Gym and entering the building looked around. Right now the corridor she was in was virtually deserted except for a few Vampires running down the far end of the hall intent on something else. Sighing at the sweaty task before her Buffy walked over the broom closet and tried to open it. The hinges stuck for a moment but it finally opened although it pulled slightly off its hinges. Inside were Merrick and Ford. Merrick looked bored and Ford looking freaked. Ford gasped in fear when the door opened. Standing on the balls of her feet, just outside the door, was Buffy. She nervously raked her left hand through her bangs and sighed. "Merrick, well, now what are we going to do about these Vampires?" Her head lowered slightly and fell to Ford. "Ford, my bud, my best bud. How are you?"  
  
Merrick stood up and said with gravitas his voice betraying his supreme annoyance with the entire situation. "Buffy, go slay those Vampires before any more students are attacked." "Right." She continued standing there staring at Ford then Merrick then Ford. Merrick caught the drift of her unspoken message and nodding pulled Ford out of the closet. A nearby door to the outside showed that the way was clear to the surrounding neighborhoods. As Merrick pushed him out the door Buffy said helpfully, "Go. Run." As Ford disappeared in the distance Buffy turned to Merrick and ran her left hand through her hair. "Do you have any more of those pointy things or are we going to have to find some sharp pencils?" Merrick raising one eyebrow opened his trench coat flashing her with a huge selection of short, medium, and long stakes and a folded carrying vest with loops as well as some long knives and short swords and some bottles of clear fluid with a slip of cloth stuffed in its neck and a miniature crossbow along with a small quiver of quarrels. A small squirt gun was affixed in a loop. She looked at the squirt gun perking up a eyebrow questioningly. "Holy Water" he replied. She picked out several stakes. Merrick selected a crossbow. "Gym first?" she asked. "Certainly" he replied. They walked over to the entrance to the Gym and walked inside. Buffy felt safe next to him. It was like a war zone. Tables were overturned. The punch bowl had fallen on the floor and spilled. There were suspicious red splashes on the walls. And worst of all, a Vampire DJ atrociously mixing "Age of Aquarius" with "Hammer Time". Vampires lay on the floors belching in satisfaction. Vampires were coming in and out of the exits to the outside. Vampires were on the basketball hoops. Vampires were under the tables. Vampires were on the tables. Most of the Vampires were drinking heavily from bottles of alcohol. The Vampires had a small crowd of frightened students and teachers near the corner. Buffy had a urge to take find a giant vacuum cleaner and vacuum them all up.  
  
As Merrick and Buffy walked into the Gym with their weapons drawn two other vampires walked in from the other side of the Gym facing them. They apparently were the leaders the way the other vampires cringed and bowed to them as they strode past them towards Buffy and Merrick with the confidence of gods. The older vampire snapped his fingers and all of the vampires in the room looked up at him and then watched as he extended two fingers at them in a rude gesture then drew them across his throat. Almost as one the vampires in the room began walking menacingly towards Buffy. More vampires shambled in through the doors and joined them. Buffy felt as though she knew what to do but at the same time she felt like running away and crying. No tears she thought. "Merrick, are we going to die?" "No" Merrick smoothly lied. And then as one the Vampires attacked Merrick shot his quarrel at Lothos who cursed as it got stuck in his neck. Merrick drew out a short sword and Buffy threw her stake at a vampire and was only surprised a little when it caught the stake and wielded over its head like it wanted to stake her. Good move she thought sarcastically... note to self, I shouldn't throw stakes. And then it was teeth and dark eyes and a flurry of motion. The Vampires all attacked and bunched up around them in a circle and it was parry and slash and stab. Continuous clouds of dust rising while they made their way over to rescue the humans. Merrick groaning as though he had been hit but there was no time only the continual dodge and stab and Vampires pulling themselves over Vampires to throw themselves at them. Both of her hands were staking at once and Merrick was like a warrior staking left and right.  
  
Vampire scratched her arm and then more attacked her and then one drew a broken whiskey bottle across her leg ripping open her jeans. She continued in a dense fugue of attack and parry and attack and parry but the vampires just kept coming. Their breath was atrocious, alcohol mixed with a coppery undead like smell. She could hardly breath through the dense cloud of brown dust. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Merrick slaying quickly and precisely behind her but she could not stop to look because the vampires parted in front of her and the older vampire with the violin stood there looking at her with a melancholy lord Byron gaze. And then the vampires back off but she heard a sliding noise and turning around she saw Merrick being hauled off by them. He was bleeding from a dozen wounds but he was still alive. The Lothos said in a gentle voice with a faintly Danish accent, "Let me bite you... no more then a tiny scratch and you shall live eternal at my side. It is inevitable. It is your destiny." Lothos considered whether or not to add to his tiny speech and then shrugged to himself. It was enough. The little girl could make the correct decision now. Buffy coolly retorted, "So are you going to kill me or are we just making small talk?" Lothos gestured to Merrick who was being guarded by six vampires who could hardly restrain themselves from falling on him and feeding. "And I shall spare your Watchers life." Merrick raised himself up from the floor and said weakly to Buffy "No.. don't.. uhhrr.. let him.. don't worry about me.." Buffy without a thought flipped forward and as the Gym spun around her she flew through the air towards Lothos. En-route Buffy brandished her stake and coolly thrust the stake deep into his chest. As he fell backwards covering himself with his cape that could not hide him being slowly turned into bones and dust she could not help retorting "Bite this."  
  
There was an unholy stillness in the air as the vampires looked at her in shock and slowly moved away from her. Spike raised his eyebrows in surprise as Buffy took advantage of the moment to walk over to Merrick and kneel down by his side. She felt protective of her new friend Merrick. He was struggling for breath and Buffy tried to sooth him by putting her hand on his brow but he shook his head... "No time... dying... save yourself..." Buffy said to him worried about her new friend, "But your hurt. I could go get help and like save you." Merrick looked up at her. Why did he ever choose to be a Watcher? Why couldn't he have become a professor or a teacher like the rest of his family? He felt a connection with this Slayer. She would be a good one. He was in pain but felt satisfied. His strength was quickly leaving him but he had enough energy to gasp out before he died.. "Take my weapons... huhhh... there is another." Buffy looked down at him as he died and closed his eyelids with her hands. Another what? What was he talking about? Taking as many weapons as she could stuff in this carry vest she put it on and faced the soused and retreating vampires who were almost at the doors. Well, if she waited a few more seconds they apparently would run away and she wouldn't have to fight them. That was cool. She tried to ignore the pain of seeing Merrick die. She tried not to cry.  
  
Spike rolled his eyes at her and the other vampires and yelled at the retreating vampires, "Fight you cowards or I swear to you by all of the circles of hell that you all will be tortured by demons for a thousand years in the lowest pits of Hell." Seeing them about to leave Spike. "And your mothers- your mothers if they still cared and could see what I did to you would go Blind!" he shouted then continued with icy hate, "From the desecration of your bodies that I personally inflicted on each and every one of you." That got their attention and they rushed Buffy and more poured in through the entrances to the Gym running at her and stupidly licking their teeth in anticipation. Uh oh Buffy thought to herself. Without Merrick she was lost. Definitely lost. Making her way towards the frightened people she pointed towards a nearby exit and said simply "Out". For a moment they stood their stunned then they ran out that door faster then she thought possible. Turning she sprinted for the exit behind them. Chasing her down with un-human like speed the vampires like a wolf pack began chasing her. If they managed to get out of the Gym they would doubtless prey upon the escaping humans. Thinking quickly Buffy pulled one of the bottles with the clear liquid from her vest and smelled it. Tequila. Good. As she ran outside the gym she turned and facing the Vampires including Spike crowding the entrance to go after her she lit the bottle of alcohol with her lighter and threw it over their heads into the Gym. Spike ducked as it flew narrowly over his head and it exploded behind them. Immediately the Gym filled with a intense roaring fire that simultaneously blasted them forward out of the entrance while the backdraft pulled air through the entrance and exploded the high windows on the Gym outward showering the parking lot with shards of broken glass. She sighed and slowly walked back to the Jeep. The sounds of people jumping into their cars and peeling out of the parking lot surrounded her. She didn't notice Spike rolling around on theground near the entrance with his back on fire cursing. She was so alone and whatever had happened to her tonight felt like an irrevocable step into a darker direction. Buffy miserably made her way back to the Jeep. She did not notice the Vampires fleeing from. Getting into the Jeep she could barely turn it on with the blizzard of pain from her wounds slowly healing and her sadness over Merricks death and her loss of innocence about the inherent goodness of the world. It was a irrevocably change. As she drove into the darkness of the night the largest feeling she felt was feeling wounded in her spirit. As she drove away Spike got up and watched her leave. His dead heart felt intrigued by this new and untrained slayer. His dead heart liked that she didn't even say goodbye. "Missed me!" he shouted defiantly at theretreating Jeep.  
  
She didn't remember coming home. Her dreams were full of conflict and in them Merrick was fighting while she lay dying. Then she was in LA and it began shrinking until it was only a small town. It grew even smaller around her until she was choking like she was drowning and a demon made of water was holding her underneath the surface of the water and then she woke up tangled in her sheets to the buzzing of the alarm.  
  
Gasping she lay there in her clothing from yesterday staring at the ceiling. Another school day she thought to herself. Oh Joy. Skipping her shower she went downstairs for breakfast. Joyce was making an omelet and Hank was gone. Joyce said as Buffy walked into the kitchen yawning, "Well good morning sleepyhead. Did you hear the news?" Buffy shook her head as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a grapefruit and milk and began fixing her self sliced Grapefruit with cereal. Joyce motioned towards the TV in the living room as she cooked. Buffy took her breakfast out to the living room she turned on the television. The slowly burning gym was smoldering under daylight as the commentator talked about how after gang related violence the building apparently caught fire. It felt kind of weird to see it on television like that. And then the memory of last night pushed itself into her mind and she was caught up in a maelstrom of emotion. She couldn't deal. Trying not to cry she pushed out the front door. Joyce followed her asking, "What's wrong honey?". Buffy needed to fall into her arms and tell her everything but knew she blurt it out and Mom couldn?t deal so she just ran faster towards school. Joyce stopped at the edge of their lawn and caught notice of the muddy and scratched up Jeep and made a decision to re-read that chapter on parenting on how to get your teenager to listen to you. Obviously Buffy had been hanging around the wrong crowd... maybe it was time to leave LA for some place safer where she could protect her from bad influences.  
  
The next few days were a blur. She kept on mentally reliving the battle and the violence in her mind. Merrick died a hundred deaths all over again within her mind. While sitting down for lunch with her friends on the playground across from the burnt out hulk of the Gym she listened to their chatter about what had happened. "I heard it was like the Crips. "No waaay it was like Bloods". "Who ca res who did it? It was just random gang violence. Who know?s why it happened. " ?Oh like shut up." "You shut up." ?I heard it was aliens." "Oh come on. You like watch too much of that UFO-Files." ?It's X Files you moron". "Bitch." "Slut." "Oh like shut up. It's so horrible. All of those people killed and they can't find the bodies." "I heard on TV today that was just a unconfirmed rumor." "My best friend had a friend that was there and she said for certain it was like someone put a chemical in the punch bowl that made everyone hallucinate." "Like I told you, X Files." "Oh like come on." The conversation went on but Buffy tuned it out." Buffy loved her friends a lot and would have joined in if only she knew she wouldn't have had to lie about what had happened. She wasn't ready to talk about it in public. Not yet. She didn't know when she would be ready. If ever.  
  
Nights Later. Buffy had been hanging around the cemeteries for many nights and the slaying was blending into slaying so much that it seemed that her hands were continually coated with dust. They dust crept up and down her arms and the only thing that changed in the unchanging night was the number of the day on her watch. She was sitting on a gravestone near a tree waiting for the next Vampire to arise when suddenly Spike dropped down from the tree a few feet away from her. Immediately she attacked him and lunged towards him with a stake. Spike snatched the stake out of her hands and snapped it over his knee "Bloody hell. I just wanted to talk!" As Buffy back flipped to several feet away she knew that she could take him any moment but it was becoming lonely out here on patrol. As strange at it seemed she welcomed the chance to talk to someone, even if it was a thing that she was going to stake. "Whatever could we talk about?" Spike looked at her. She was bit young and he knew he could take this untrained Slayer but it'd have be a cheap trophy. Impulsively he took a flask of alcohol of his jacket and took a swig. "You drink?!" Buffy drew another stake from her jacket. Spike knew his dead heart wanted to commit treason with her he knew but he tried to fight it. Rolling his eyes he attempted to take the stake from her. Buffy back flipped again and this time pulled a miniature crossbow from concealment and shot him. It almost was accurate enough to dust him on the spot but it was still only almost. It stuck in his chest near the heart. This was growing tiresome. The decision over what would happen next was taken out of both of their hands when the sun began to rise and Spike began to smoke. Cursing he ran towards the tombs at the far end of the cemetery. Buffy knew that she had to be back home before her mother checked her room and so decided to deal with this Vamp next time. Inside his crypt Spike pulled the cover of his stone coffin over himself as he thought to himself over and over again. she loves me. This isn't over yet pet. Back home Buffy crawled into the window and jumped into her bed pulling the sheets over her just as her mother came to check up on her. The door opened slowly and Joyce peeked her head in. "Time for school dear?" Buffy pretended to wake up slowly. Joyce watched her pretend and seeing the mud stains on the carpet between the window and the bed knew her daughter had been out late. She made the decision to move out of LA the sooner the better.  
  
  
  
Days Later...  
  
The principle yanked on the cord of the Venetian blinds in front of his office window and as the blinds clattered upwards over the window as he pulled on the cord the window revealed the burnt out hulk of the Gym outside. Suddenly light from outside poured in and Buffy blinked several times from where she sat in front of t he Principles Desk. "Look at that building. Just look at that building. That is a total mess. The administration wants heads to roll. Someone has to take the fall ". Buffy pulled her left hand through her hair nervously and a little fearfully. "I know for a fact that it was you. The police are coming to take you away. Confess and I'll drop all charges." Buffy saw through his transparent attempt to scapegoat her for saving the lives of everyone in the Gym... she raised her clenched hand in front of the Principle palm towards herself and slowly raised her middle finger against him in a gesture of defiance despite the sinking wrenching feeling in her stomach. She said in a low soft voice "How about you get me a lawyer... and I give you the finger.  
  
The Principle felt afraid by the gesture of defiance from her. And the cold glare as she did dagger eyes towards him. Obviously she would be difficult to crack... in that case, well even if he couldn't get a confession out of her he could still make life hard for her..."We need a scapegoat. And I'm afraid it must be you." Buffy felt numb. "Because of your age and because we can't verify that you actually caused the fire... I am putting this on your permanent file. While I can't make a example of you to the press I certainly am going to make you a example to the administration"  
  
Buffy rising turned and left the office. "Wait! I haven't dismissed you!" the Principle pleaded with her as she left the office and slammed the door shut behind her. Later... as Joyce drove away from the School in her Jeep Buffy opened the passengers side window and looking out saw a collection of students and cheerleaders gathered by the side of the road. They looked grateful and humble. As she passed by them she saw written in big letters on their binders. T H A N K Y O U.  
  
  
  
Later that evening over dinner between just the two of them Joyce affectionately put her hand over Buffy's and told her how Hank wouldn't ever be coming back and how they had finalized the divorce.  
  
Buffy felt like it was all her fault.  
  
Joyce was saying, "Don't feel its your fault honey. We just felt that  
  
it was best for both of us to move on. We'll be moving soon to a smaller town."  
  
Buffy still felt like it was her fault. Everything was too much for her to handle. Her emotions boiled over and she cried into her gazpacho soup and made a mess of everything. Soon Joyce came around the table and hugged her tightly and cried too.  
  
Later...  
  
Buffy and Joyce watched the last of their things get packed by the Movers into a Van and then drive off quickly. Buffy looked around her neighborhood not knowing if she'd ever see L.A. again. She could always write to her friends if she needed to... she also knew that this was the last time she would probably ever see them. She wouldn't miss the pollution or t he constant noise. Or the Vampires. Hopefully there would be less of them in this smaller town she was moving too... it sounded a lot safer then L.A. And then finally Joyce and Buffy got in to the Green Jeep Cherokee and left L. A.  
  
When they pulled off of the highway and started down the turnoff towards Sunnydale it lay like a dream before them. A cute little one-coffee-shop town near the water and nature trails it was picture perfect from the distance and under the noon sunlight. Buffy rolled down her window and breathed in the strong wind of freshly cut grass and of the sea.  
  
Later...  
  
Buffy punched the targets Giles held. Frantically releasing her pent up energy she hit the targets a little too hard and Giles stepped backwards and commented on her need to learn focus andcontrol.  
  
Later...  
  
Willow talked and talked and Buffy talked with her. This is the first meaningful conversation Buffy had had in weeks... and she felt a bond with the girl who walked beside her. She never had a friendship that had arisen beyond shallowness before... this time it was different. This time she had a best friend she could trust.  
  
Later.  
  
Buffy killed the Vampire Luke and after he disintegrated she tried not to breath in the dust while she thought to herself... Well Luke... it looks like the Rebel Alliance will have to do without you.  
  
Later...  
  
Buffy collapsed on her bed in her room after a particularly long day where a lot of the students had wanted to talk with her for some strange reason and after that had a difficult patrol. She felt tired all over but knew her energies would soon return. She stared across the room at her closet where the chest containing he r stakes and other slaying equipment was hidden. As she drifted off to sleep she thought about the new friends she had made... and how fun life could be with them.  
  
Later...  
  
Buffy Summers stepped out of the Jeep. Turning towards the doors into the High School she found herself looking forward to another day there. Something had changed and now she could hardly wait to meet her friends again. She ran towards the entrance... towards her new life. 


End file.
